While selecting your Stratagems for the best loadout in Helldivers 2, you might run into a conundrum. If you look under the Engineering Bay and Robotics Workshop ship modules, you will spot two versions of the Guard Dog stratagem.
These will include the standard Guard Dog (AX/AR-23) and the Rover version (AX/LAS-5), and both unlock at level 10 during your galactic progression. Both support stratagems are quite efficient at killing your enemies but surely one Guard Dog variant has to be better than the other.
If you are confused about choosing between the Guard Dog or the upgraded “Guard Dog” Rover in Helldivers 2, then I will assist you with all the required info on both of these reliable support stratagems.
Should you choose Guard Dog or Guard Dog Rover in Helldivers 2?
It can be quite hard to decide whether the standard Guard Dog is better or the Rover version, as both can be useful in different situations.
The Rover is the best choice against Automatons and is highly useful in those missions. The Rover in Helldivers 2 offers you the advantage of infinite ammo since it uses laser attacks, and better mobility and keeps you alert from being taken over with an enemy surprise attack.
In my opinion, the Rover support stratagem is more consistent and has no downtime which makes it a clear winner. However, the Guard Dog is a better choice against Terminid enemies as it can deal with those armored bugs with relative ease making those Terminid nest missions quite easy for you to finish.
If you prefer a defensive playstyle over an offensive one, then you should go with the standard Guard Dog; just make sure to keep its ammo topped up.
Guard Dog and Rover stratagems explained
Guard Dog is kind of like your protective buddy who follows you around and is a great support drone for dealing with small bugs that crawl your way. This backpack-based drone saves your ammo and shoots down only those enemies that come in sight, which means there is less risk factor of friendly fire with the Regular Guard dog.
On the other hand, the regular Guard Dog in Helldivers 2 has less damage output and is more suited for taking down small and medium Terminids as it struggles against heavily armored ones.
Furthermore, the standard Guard Dog has seven ammo magazines, which you will need to resupply once they get used up, so you will need to bring along a B-1 Supply Pack stratagem (a.k.a Resupply Pack) to keep your Guard Dog up and running during your fight.
When you deploy a Guard Dog Rover in your battle, you will notice that it is an upgraded version of your support stratagem. It emits a powerful laser attack that is quite sufficient in dealing with enemies at higher difficulties.
The best part about the Rover is that it has an unlimited ammo supply, and this means that you don’t need to pause during your fights to resupply it with any ammunition.
The Rover stratagem also requires more resources to deploy efficiently compared to your standard Guard Dog. However, it will get the job done in the end by assisting you and finishing off a large number of enemies.
Guard Dog and Rover stats
You can check the stats for both the standard Guard Dog and Rover, and you will notice that both of these are more or less the same in Helldivers 2.
| Backpack Stratagem | Stats |
| Guard Dog [AX/AR-23] | Call-in-Time (5 sec), Unlimited use, Cooldown (480), Unlock Level (10). |
| Guard Dog Rover [AX/ LAS-5] | Call-in-Time (5 sec), Unlimited use, Cooldown (480), Unlock Level (10), costs you 7500 Requisition Slips |
PC input codes to get Guard Dog or Rover in Helldivers 2
- For Guard Dog: S, W, A, S, W, D, S
- For Rover: S, A, S, W, A, S, S
PS5 code to get Guard Dog or Rover
- For Guard Dog: Down key, Up key, Left key, Down key, Up key, Right key, Down key
- For Rover: Down key, Left key, Down key, Up key, Left key, Down key, Down Key
